The End Was Never Near
by Little Vili
Summary: About to go under super-sized massive revision. Read if you want to, but its going to be changed.
1. It Has You

**The first chapter is really short, but I promise that all the others will be much longer. Also if you have read my other story, it's about to go under a supreme revision, so don't expect a new chapter for a couple of weeks. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, or The Matrix. **

**Claimer: I do own any ACC's (that I though of myself) I might use.**

**Now that the boring part is over, onto the story.**

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**Chapter 1: It has you**

"I know I have it this time, Im sure of it. I have never been closer than I am now."

Jeremy was busy in the factory, touching up upon his anti-virus program. He was sure that he had done it this time, he made sure everything was perfect and flawless. He was ready for the final test, now it was only a matter of time before all hell was over.

"Aelita, I know this is it. I know that today is the day we can stop XANA." Jeremy said with excitement, still typing furiously at the key board.

"You really think this will work, that this could be it?" Aelita asked, with joy spreading all throughout her.

"Yes Aelita." He returned with a smile. "I have a good feeling about this one."

He had done it. All the work was over, his patience had finally paid off. After all he had been through, it was finally over. Today would be the day that they could live normal lives. Today would be the day that all worries of XANA would end. Today was the day, that they saved the world, for the final time.

* * *

It was all too perfect, all plans, with no flaws in them. This was not normal, there had to be something wrong. With every good thing that happens, there must be a bad, to maintain balance. Jeremy let his excitement get to him too fast, not realizing the painfully obvious. That today was not the day for any of those wonderful things. 

While Jeremy was typing away at his computer, little did he or Aelita know, that XANA was hard at work. The reason every thing had gone so smoothly was because the lack of XANA's presence. XANA was planning something, but not just an attack, something much worse. He would change the rules of the game all together. In fact, going to Lyoko, would be utterly pointless. XANA had a new plan, he would take over a new world. One that he may have created, or even hacked. One cannot be certain which it was, but in this new world, he would have much greater power.

* * *

As Jeremy finished typing in the last few things, he stretched his arms out and yawned. He quickly collected himself knowing the task was not fully complete. It wouldn't be complete until Aelita was there in flesh and blood. He was just about to hit the enter key, which would finalize his project, and bring Aelita to their world. But something happened, something that scared Jeremy, he hoped that it wasn't his fault. And it wasn't, but this he still did not realize. Because just before his finger made contact with the key, all power in the factory had shut down spontaneously. Or so he thought. 

The only room with power in the whole facility, was the room below him, the super calculator room. It was still operational, but Jeremy did not know this. He started to worry, but stopped as soon as power was restored.

"Aelita, are you there, speak to me!" He shouted, praying for any response.

He got one, but not the one he was looking for. It was different, no talking, just words on the computer screen. He looked up at the screen and read what it said.

**Don't cry Jeremy**

It showed in big bold letters.

**Aelita is not lost, she is with me. She is in another world, but she won't live forever.**

"Who are you?"

The next message was a response he did not understand, nor was it any form of an answer to his question. Jeremy just sat there, looking at the words, shocked in disbelief, pondering what they could mean.

**The Matrix has you.

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**

**I can tell Im going to enjoy writing this story, just as I hope you enjoy reading it. RR please.**


	2. The Deal Was Struck

**Thank you all for liking my story so far (despite its size). I promise that it will get better to those who seemed skeptical. I don't want to give too much away, but I plan not to go along with the matrix story line, I will change it up completely. Im not even including Neo or all them other dudes. But I will put in some ACC's later on. Im thinking on still using Agent Smith (he is my all time favorite villain). So anyway, keep reading if you like it. If you don't, than that's your problem huh. (P.S. Yay, Trillinka reviewed, it makes me happy to know that a good Author respects my own work, I feel even more inspired now).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko or The Matrix.**

**Claimer: All that I own is any ACC's that I use later on.**

**With that set in..."your scanner is waiting sir." (I've been wanting to say that for a while now)

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**Chapter 2: The deal was struck**

This had not been XANA's first visit to this _new_ world. In fact he had been there once before, but was never able to complete what happened in his first visit. His mission was simple, find Agent Smith. But that was not the only purpose of the mission.

XANA had heard of The Matrix before, or more or less found out about it himself. Whenever XANA isn't planning an attack, he is trying to hack into other program that he doesn't have access to, so that he may use what he finds for his next assault. Strangely this has led him to the discovery of this _new_ world.

The Matrix was entirely different from Lyoko, for one, he was able to take a physical form in The Matrix. This was never possible in Lyoko. Upon the first time entering The Matrix, he had noticed his new form. He had Jet black hair with red streaks all throughout it, and it was spiked, also he had a black zip up hoodie (with a Red XANA symbol on the back) and under the hoodie he wore a black T-shirt. With that, he had a pair of baggy black JNKO jeans. And a pair of black and red Vans skateboarding shoes. On his wrist he wore a silver Rolex watch. And around his neck lay a golden chain necklace.

XANA took a few moments to look over himself, still admiring that he had taken a physical form, but quickly re-focused on his mission. He was supposed to meet Agent Smith in an abandon warehouse, located just two blocks from where he was. He began to walk, looking at everything around him, noticing how it looked and felt so real. If he hadn't know better, he'd say he was in the real world, though this is not so, and he knew it.

His first encounter with Agent Smith had gone quite well. Though it started off slightly on the wrong foot.It was soon resolved after XANA explained his sudden presence. XANA had seemed to have found a potential accomplice in his quest for domination. They started to exchange information, and even struck a deal, but something had made them put it off until another day.

* * *

XANA remembered that first meeting with the perfection one expects with electronic memory storage...It was the usual for XANA, though sometimes he got fed up with failing. Every time he thought it was the last. Every time he thought he had them, but then something would happen, it would all freeze, then XANA would suddenly loose control. A moment later, they would go back in time, and it would be like it never happened. XANA was tired of this, he needed something more than his usual hackjob plans. So he decided to take a _break_. 

XANA was constantly searching for new programs to access, new material to find, but nothing that he found impressed him to what he was looking for. He wanted something foolproof, that he knew it would take a miracle to stop him. But was there such a thing, he wondered.

Eventually, XANA came across a program that was similar in some ways to that of Lyoko. It was another world, a world known as The Matrix. It was hard at first, but nothing was out of XANA's reach when it came to hacking a system, and this was no different. It only took a matter of minutes to access the system of The Matrix, and as soon as he was done, XANA quickly entered the system, to figure out more about it. He was shocked as to how much of a resemblance it was to the real world. Soon he was greeted with a man with a business suit and sunglasses.

"Im sorry, but this is a dead end for you. I suggest you tell me why you are here. You are not apart of this world, and I don't welcome hackers with open arms. If you give me a good reason to why you are here, I may even make your demise less painful for you."

XANA was shocked by this statement. Who was this person, and why did he think that XANA was a hacker, did he not realize who he was messing with? XANA collected himself quickly, and came up with an _excuse_.

"Hacker?" Was XANA's first reply. "I am no hacker. I am the worlds most powerful computer virus, and Im the one who makes the threats. So I suggest you surrender to me before I destroy you, along with this world."

Now it was Smith's turn to be surprised. It's not often that hackers or even programs confront Smith. But Smith soon realized that he may have found what he was looking for. For little did XANA know, Smith too was out to reek havoc upon the world.

"Well, it's not often that people make threats to me. Then again, I usually don't let them. Looks like you and I aren't that different. You seem like you want to destroy earth as much as I do."

XANA was a little taken back, but realized that it was a little obvious from his last statement.

"So what are you saying, you want to form a partner ship?"

"I am saying this. You are having difficulty in making progress in your stride to dominate, just like I am having difficulties, otherwise one of us would have accomplished it by now, don't you agree?"

"You have a good point. But I must ask, why are you having difficulties?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same reason as your interferences. Let me take a guess, one that I'm pretty sure fits the description quite well. You are having trouble in progressing further into your plans do to the activity of an outside force. That outside force being a group of people who take the time to disrupt your plans, and make sure you fail in your set mission. The reason I say this is because I too am faced with the same problem. And I tell you, it can get quite aggravating."

"Looks like we agree on something after all. Perhaps if we were to join forces, this task of ours would not be so difficult to accomplish."

"Yes, indeed. We will have to make an arrangement, but unfortunately we will have to put it off until another time."

"Why is that?"

"The same reason you have. Your enemy is hard at work, trying to figure out how to destroy you, as is mine. You need to go back and disrupt your enemies plans before he finds away to do so. The reason I know this is because I am faced with the same situation. So I must go, as do you. And we will arrive at an old ware house at this address. Be there at that exact time, and we will make our arrangements."

Smith handed XANA a piece of paper with an address and time written on it, and then walked away into the distance. Smith was right, if XANA did not act soon, then Jeremy would possibly have been able to complete his anti-virus program. XANA wasted no time in going back to Lyoko, where he would disrupt Jeremy's plans, just like Smith was going to disrupt his own enemies, who ever they were.

* * *

It did not take long for XANA to create a disturbance in Jeremy's plans. How could he materialize Aelita if she was not there. XANA had taken Aelita with him to The Matrix by forceful surprise. She had no time to react at all the this action. As soon as XANA arrived back into The Matrix, he knocked her unconscious, and carried her to an abandonbuilding. He placed her inside and tied her up, so that he may deal with her later.

* * *

XANA was still walking along down the street, preceding to the address given to him by Smith. While walking, XANA kept thinking of all the possible means of destruction he and Smith will be able to accomplish with their, soon to be formed, partnership. He soon arrived at the address, and was greeted by Smith when he approached the warehouse. 

"I see that you were able to arrive without much difficulty." Smith spoke to XANA.

"Yes, I had to take care of one minor thing." XANA replied.

"Involving you enemy, I would have to say?"

"Yes, I would explain it, but it's a long story."

"I see. Well, shall we get down to business then?"

"Yes, you said something about us making arrangements that would form a partnership."

"Well I wouldn't call it that, you can't really be a partner with your self now can you."

XANA was confused, and he is very rarely confused ever. What did he mean _you can't_ _be a partner with yourself_? XANA pondered it some more, but his unasked question was soon addressed.

"I can tell that you are having trouble understanding what I meant by that. I knew you would, but it's not that hard to understand actually. It's like this, you are a program. So there for, you take no _real_ physical form. In this world, every thing you see, feel, hear, and so on, is perceived to you as real. I have found a way around this, I have _broken the rules_ per say. What Im saying to you, is that you have the ability to fuse yourself with me. If you had a physical form in another world, then this would not be possible, but that is not the case."

"So we can fuse, that was your plan. We will become one person with greater power."

"Yes, that we will. But I have a physical form in another world, but I have made it so I have a permanent stay here. So in actuality, _you_ will fuse into _me_. I will look the same, but you will take a presence inside of my mind. It will be a sort of multiple personality, but only one of us can have control of the mind at a time. The good thing about that is we can switch back as often, and quickly as we like."

"You are saying this like you have done it before, have you?"

Yes I have, but it was different. I have the power to copy myself onto other programs or people inside the Matrix. I inject my hand into them, and like a virus, I spread through out them until the process is complete. They still exist in their mind, but when I copy myself, the person I copy to looks just like me. The only thing is, I never let the original holder of that mind to do anything, and I destroy it mentally, making it my own. Every time I do this, I have to wait a day in order to do it again, because of the energy that in requires. And only _I _have the power to do so, not my other selves. But that is slightly different than what we will be doing. You will do to me as I do to others. Inject your hand into me."

XANA was shocked at Smith's abrupt command. "You want me to what!"

"You heard me. Once you do this, you will be absorbed into my body, and will have instant access to my mind. Then when you are finished, we can start the destruction of the world."

XANA was a little skeptical about this, but soon collected himself and obeyed his order. He stunk his hand right into Smith's chest. XANA could feel himself being pulled in to Smith's body. It almost felt like dying and being reborn at the exact same time. Soon, XANA was a part of smith.

* * *

XANA opened his eyes to find himself to be what looked like an all white room, with no doors, windows, or anything, just a large white room. He was confused, _was this Smith's mind_ XANA thought. XANA got up from his current position on the ground, and started to look around. Out of nowhere a door formed and Smith walked through it. 

"Welcome to my world." Smith said in a serious, yet joking voice.

"What is this place?" XANA asked, still completely confused about what was going on.

"This is the mental aspect of my mind. This is not what it _really _looks like, this is just what you perceive it as."

"Makes sense to me, shall we try switching control of the mind?"

"Yes. Its not hard, we just both have to focus on the _switch_, and we will do so."

XANA and Smith focused on switching control. XANA was concentrating on gaining control, while Smith let go of it. The process only took a few seconds, and they were switched. The first thing that XANA noticed, was that he was in his body.

"I thought you said that you would remain physically the same, but here I am seeing myself, and I look no different than before."

"Looks like I was wrong in my judgements. Then again, you are the most powerful program that I have fused, or copied to I should say, ever. That must be affecting the output of the solution."

XANA understood this. In fact, he liked it more this way. Instead of just being part of someone, he was still himself at the same time, at least while he had control.

"Now that we have that all in order now, I say we begin what we set out to do." Smith stated, as they switched back to their original control.

But little did they realize that they would be off to a rough start, for Smith's enemy was close by.

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**Dang, that took me a long time. And not getting computer time does not help. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, considering how much I put into it. But one thing I hate most of all is candy-coated reviews. If you don't like the story, come right out and say it. Im not saying that people do this often, but when people leave reviews like "Oh, that was nice, keep going" it makes me think if they are really interested or not. Then again some people don't have much else to say, so Meh. Anyway, thanks to all those who have read reviewed and enjoyed this story. Finally I write something I can be proud of...and pardon any spelling/grammar errors, I will go back and fix them soon...ill try to update in a few weeks, but just remember, quality over quantity. Its better to have a few good chapters than a ton of crappy ones. Peace out every one.**


	3. Welcome to Jersey

**Im so glad that those of you reading are enjoying my story as much as you are. Thanks to those of you who are kind enough to review. Im sorry that I take so long in all my updates, but I prefer quality over quantity. If you guys haven't caught on, or if you are confused, Im using themes from The Matrix (such as Agent Smith, and the world of The Matrix itself). But as you will soon see, I plan to use many original ideas, and characters in this story. So I hope that you will continue to read and enjoy (and drop a review off as well so I may know how you feel about my work). I know how boring it is to read Author's notes, so Ill try not to take as long .**

**P.S.: Lets here it for SamBlob, who is my new pre-reader. (If he still wishes to hold that position). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko (or The Matrix)...why would I want to bother with this if I did.**

**Claimer: I do own the characters Seth, Zen, Jack, and Trish.**

**Now that the boring stuff is out of the way...on to the story.

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**Chapter 3: Welcome to Jersey.**

(This takes place just before Smith and XANA start their meeting, you should be able to tell when it picks right up from where I left off, Ill try to make it easy to see).

It had been a relatively good day for four students at a New Jersey high school. But unless you were apart of that group, then things were not as they appeared. Like Ulrich, Jeremy, Odd, and Yumi, these four high school kids also lived double lives. Also like them, these four kids enter an alternate world to save their own, on a regular basis. But it was not Lyoko, it was a world known as The Matrix.

They had managed to keep it a secret for a long time, about a little more than a year actually. But it wasn't easy, because unlike the Lyoko team, they could not return to the past, and make everything all better. But also, there was no need to, for when something bad happened on The Matrix, it did not affect their world...at least not yet.

Unlike XANA, the power of Smith only reaches throughout the Matrix, until he has copied himself onto enough programs to be able to extend his power. For Smith to be able to do this, he must have control of at least 95 of the programs (who take the form of a humans) on The Matrix. But it was Seth Chrono, Zen Yulaw, Jack Fishir, and Trish Marist's job to make sure this did not happen.

When ever Smith copied himself to another program, he had to wait to be able to do it again. This gives time for the four students to attack the clone, but it is not always successful, for they are extremely hard to defeat. But the advantage of it all is that only the original Smith has the power to do so, at least until he gains enough power to do so otherwise. Smith needs at least 65 of the programs to be able to do this, and at his current standing, he only has 35 (which is still a lot mind you).

When smith copies himself onto another program, a different program who has taken the four students' side, known as the oracle, notifies them of the attack via Zen's laptop (but in order for him to contact her, he had to go to The Matrix to do so), the connection only lasts long enough to warn them, if they want to have an extended talk on the matter, a trip to The Matrix would have to be arranged. If in a class, they always tried to make an excuse to leave. Most of the time they were successful, but there were times when they had failed to do so.

The access room to The Matrix was held in a small abandon warehouse (on the basement level), where they would be able to jack them selves in by using specially made head sets that would allow them to take the plunge. Then the "fun" would begin.

This group of kids also take a substantially larger risk when going to The Matrix, because if they were to die there, it would mean death for them in the real world. So taking extreme caution was major priority. Despite the risk of death, these four students greatly enjoy being able to save the world, at least it gives them something to do.

* * *

Seth is an action seeker. He loves to be able show off his fighting skills, and get the job done by any means necessary. Although occasionally this attitude gets him in trouble, he also knows whento keep it under wraps. Seth always liked to listen to music, even in the middle of class, and this always got him in trouble when he did. But he also had a good nac for keeping his punishment to a minimum. When he wanted to, he could be quite persuasive. He always liked to wear baggy black jeans, along with a red and black Polo hoodie (a pull over one). He also had black hair (that he always kept spiked up). 

Zen is spiritual kind of person. who is also 15. He liked to practiced multiple forms of eastern philosophy, such as Taoism, and Buddhism. He didn't go to the extreme when it came to them, but he liked to practice certain aspects when it came to them. Such as for Buddhism, he liked to meditate, but he would never go as far as to abolish all desires (which Buddhists usually do, when they practice on the deeper levels). Apart from his spiritual sense, Zen is extremely gifted when it came to computers and electronics. He never liked to fight much, so there for, he does not go into The Matrix often. When his friends were off in The Matrix fighting, he would help out by giving advice and such, to them. Zen looked kinda like a skater. He wore a black shirt with a brown (pull over) hoodie, with the Element logo on the front. Also had a pair of faded blue jeans. His hair was blonde and long past his eyes (you know, how like those skate dudes at school have their hair and such). And he had a pair of black skateboarding shoes.

Jack is a jokester of sorts (kind of like Odd, but not as bad). He is the youngest of the group, but not by much, (14, going on 15 in a couple of months) He loved to make crack ups at every moment he could, but knew when to keep his mouth shut. He kept decent grades, but never made any _real_ effort at it, as long as he passed, he didn't care. His humor usually helped his friends out if they were in a bad mood, but sometimes he over did it. Like Seth, he was often times eager when it came to adventure, and was extremely trigger happy (so never let him have an Uzi, or any automatic gun for that matter). Though jack seemed happy 90 percent of the time you saw him, he did suffer from minor depression from time to time. Most of it involved the disrespect that he received from other students. But his friends could usually snap him out of it. Jack also liked to skateboard a lot, and has even got Zen into it (that would explain Zen's style), and when ever they are out skating, Jack would take the time to teach Zen some new moves. Jack has electric blue hair (dyed) and styles it many various ways (depending on his mood, or if he felt like trying something new). He also has a goatee (which he also dyed blue). He wears adark redt-shirt, and has a pair of baggy, South Pole blue jeans. He also has a pair of black and blue Nike shoes.

Trish is the final member of the group. Sheis a punk-rock, go get'um, kind of girl. But she also had a compassionate side as well. Despite her ususal attitude, she also likes _cute_ animals and such. Trish always had her guard up, and was ready to take on anyone who would take a shot at her. When ever someone would make fun of her, or her friends, she would usually be able to get right in that person's face, and talk them down to size. She hated it when people would pick of other people. Sometimes, she would even help defend those who were identified as losers. She wasn't afraid of what people thought of her, as long as she knew that she was doing the right thing. Trish also liked to do a lot a writing and drawing, she always liked to be able to express her self. Most of her work never really had a point, or meaning, she just liked to draw, or write, whatever came from her mind. Trish also has a secret crush on Seth, but neither he, nor do anyone else know about it. But that would sometimes be the theme of her art. Trish liked to wear a light blue belly shirt, and a pair of faded blue khaki jeans. Her hair was brown (that went down to bottom of her neck) with pink, and bright blue streaks running down the side. She also wore a silver chain necklace around her neck, and a punk bracelet on her right wrist.

* * *

It was the usual at lunch time, Jack always liked to sit at a new table each day, this would sometimes make it hard to look for him, since he always choose a seat quite a distance away from the one of the previous day. At first this annoyed his friends a little, but over time, they got used to it. 

Trish grabbed her tray of food that was handed to her by the lunch lady, and started to scan the area, to see if she could spot where Jack had chose to sit that day. She never had any luck though, despite her knowing full well what his habits were. She eventually aborted her mission, and waited for the usual call to be cried out.

"Trish, over here!" came Jack's usual voice.

Jack was always amused by this, every day it was like watching a comedy show, and waiting for the punch line of the joke. The strange thing that occurred to Trish, was that Zen and Seth always were there right when she got there. She often pondered over this, wondering how this was so, due to the matter that she arrived before them (but, they brought there lunch).

"Pay up Seth." Jack demanded from his friend who was sitting right beside him.

Now Trish was truly stumped, 'what is going on' she thought suddenly. Was there something that they weren't telling her. Every time a bet was made, she was always involved (unless she chose not to participate, but at least she was told about it).

"Ok guys, what's up, you know that when ever we bet, we're all included." Trish said aloud knowing that she had caught Jack in one of his pranks before it was officially done with.

"Its simple Trish, me and Seth make a bet every day, wondering if you will be able to spot out my new seat, which I give you 30 seconds to do. And for two weeks, you still have not managed to do so. So you see, if I would have told you, it would have ruined the whole thing."

Trish was a little aggravated about being the front of his joke (or bet for that matter), but brushed it off and sat down with her friends.

"So what about you Zen, don't you partake in this?" Trish asked Zen who was currently enjoying a Philly Cheese Steak.

Zen liked to keep things simple, and did not usually take part in small events such as these, mostly because he didn't have the money required with him to put up, and did not want to take the chance at losing money he didn't have. Usually whenever Jack hosts a bet, the minimum entry is five dollars. Zen never saw a reason to carry more than what was necessary to get through the day with ,which was about two dollars, because he liked to drink coffee in the morning, and make his own unique "Zen blend" he called it (which cost around that much).

"Mainly because I don't have the entry fee, and the fact that Jack almost never loses a bet."

Trish saw that Zen had a good point, Jack was a very lucky kid when it came to gambling. It came in use when he was short for money to buy movie tickets and things like that. Then there were the times that he would get beat up by the older kids when they lost to him, so he didn't bet with them too often anymore.

"Which brings me to my next question." Trish folded her arms in the statement, also knowing that her next question was a little distant from their current topic. "Why do you always pick a new seat every day, Jack?" Though it was an obvious answer, that she even once got before, but she wanted to see if Jack's mind had changed, like it usually does.

"Oh come now Trish, you know perfectly well why. I like the lighting of this area better."

Trish sighed, and her face went into a "your hopeless" blank stare. "You say that every time I ask you. You know that's not the real reason." She stated getting a little annoyed by the usual unorthodox answer that she always received from him.

"I thought I told you why before." Jack shrugged, "You know I never like to sit at the same lunch table twice."

Seth was enjoying the entertainment that he was getting out of this, and decided to also contribute something to the matter. "Oh yeah. What about when you've already sat at every table at least once." Seth chuckled, knowing that Jack would have no way of getting out of that answer.

"Well...then..." Jack wasn't about to lose this one, he never went down that easily when it came to crack ups. If Jack was ever the target this kind of playful warfare, he always had a way out. That was another thing Jack was know for, when ever just for play, or an actual verbal fight, Jack always held an ace up his sleeve.

"I'll sit on the ground then...that's it, Ill sit on the ground in different spots."

Seth was not surprised of Jack's answer, he even half expected him to say that, though Seth had nothing in return to add. Seth calmly admitted defeat, knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance against Jack at his own game. But he chuckled to himself as he remembered all those times that he walloped him in Super Smash Brothers.

Jack was getting bored quickly, and knew the one thing that would take that away. Every week, he and Zen would take a trip to the local skate park that was close by to the school so that he could teach Zen some new skate tricks, or try something new for himself. Surprisingly, the principal allowed this (but only during a study hall period, which was their next class anyway).

"Yo Zen!" Jack piped up. Zen looked over to see what his friend could want. "Want to drop by the skate park next period?"

Zen would usually take the offer, but was a little concerned about another matter. It was about their great secret that the four of them shared, and vowed never to tell, no matter what. He was worried about The Matrix, since the oracle hasn't contacted him in a while. He knew that he should check on that, before he would partake in any leisure activities.

"Sorry Jack, but Im a little concerned about The Matrix, I was wondering If you could come with me to check on things, since I don't have the program set up that would allow me to enter without assistance."

Entering The Matrix was like entering Lyoko, it was a two person job. One person needed to enter, while another person needed to man the controls. That was, until Zen could complete his latest program that would allow him to be able to enter (and exit) with out the need of another person to do so (as long as _you_ knew what you were doing). This was no easy feet to accomplish. Sure Zen could enter as he pleases, but leaving was the hard part. Pre-setting exits to run at certain times was not an easy thing to set up. But knowing Zen, it would only be a matter of time before he did it.

"Yeah sure. Good idea, considering that she hasn't said anything for a while. I just hope that are ole buddy Smith hasn't got anything to do with this."

And with that, the two started off towards the warehouse, leaving Trish and Seth to be alone.

* * *

Trish couldn't help but stare into Seth's dark blue eyes. She liked him more than a friend, but she wondered if he felt the same about her. All the times she gave him hints, he never acknowledged them. Like when she gave him a rose on Valentine's Day, but all he did was ask "what's this for?" At that moment, Trish was a little heart broken, but she still liked him just the same, and hoped that one day she would find out how he truly feels about her. It was a shame though, Seth never felt the same wayabout her. 

"Something wrong Trish?" Seth asked immediately, noticing her gaze.

Trish snapped out of the little daze that she was in and collected herself quickly. "Yes, Im fine, just daydreaming is all." She was telling the truth, but only part of it. For the day dream was about her in Seth's arms, talking about their undying passion for each other.

"Ok then, you want to go see how Zen's doin?" Seth asked abruptly knowing that it would be the best thing to do with their spare time, considering that they had no home work to do.

"Good idea, lets get going." She replied with her usual "no time to lose" attitude.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zen and Jack had arrived at the warehouse, and Zen started the connection to The Matrix's system. The layout was similar to that of the computer room of the factory, with the exception of a few things (such as, the uplinks to The Matrix were in the same room as the computer). And there was no cool rotating chair. Not to mention there was no scanner room...because there were no scanners. 

Sometimes it was difficult to connect to The Matrix, because pirating a connection signal is not very easy, especially when the codes keep changing all the time. But it would be only a matter of minutes before a successful connection was made, and uplinks were fired up.

Zen had been to The Matrix before, but far fewer times than the rest of the group. His life had never been the same after he had first met the oracle. He was changed from a computer loving geek, to the Zen that we now know and love (well, his friends anyway).

Once every thing was online and ready, Jack made his way over to the uplink, where he would take the plunge into the parallel world. Zen set in the coordinates, and hit the switch (button, more or less actually).

* * *

Jack opened his eyes to find that he was in the middle of an empty road that was surrounded by old houses located outside the city. The place was very low profile, and only the local programs actually came through there. He immediately took out the cell phone that lay in the pocket of his trench coat (yes...they have trench coats, I just love those things) and dialed a number. 

"Operator." Zen answered the call.

"Ok, Im in." replied Jack's voice "Now what house was it again?"

The oracle lived in an average house, but looked as though it was a little banged up. Of course this was an old house, so this was expected. She didn't mind the place, and had been staying there for many years now.

"The house's number is 294. That should only be a few residents down from where you are now."

"Alright, Im on my way." Jack hung up the connection and pocketed the cell phone as he made his way to the house.

The house was lime green, with paint peeling here and there, and the door was red, with a golden knob. Jack made his way up the house, and knocked on the door with their special "secret knock" that would let the oracle know who it was. Jack entered into the building, and stood in the door way to await the usual greeting.

"Hello dear, come on in and make yourself at home." the oracle said in her usual sweet voice, grandmother like voice

"Thank you." Jack said in a more serious voice than his usual hipped up one. "I suppose you know why I am here."

"Yes I do. You're here because Zen was feeling a bit uncomfortable due to me not calling about any Smith activity, and wanted to make sure that everything was ok." the oracle replied still keeping her sweet tone.

"Looks like we wouldn't even be able to throw you a surprise birthday party without the surprise getting ruined." Jack stated, adding some humor into this, then switching back to his previous tone. "Do you have any news for us?"

"I do." she replied, her voice also getting more serious. "And it worries me a little as well."

Jack gulped at that statement, because the oracle usually never worried much, unless it was something that she knew they could not handle as easily as most other events.

"Smith has done something that he usually never does, in fact never has done. He has arranged a meeting with an out side presence, who calls himself XANA. They were supposed to meet at an abandon warehouse (not the one that the group uses...its one that's inside The Matrix itself) about an hour ago to hold this meeting. Im afraid I don't know what took place during the meeting, but Im afraid that Smith has formed an alliance with this XANA, in hopes to destroy you, and your world."

Jack didn't know what to say, he was speechless. Their greatest enemy (who was hard enough by himself) now working with another. This would only prove to be extremely difficult to handle. They couldn't do it alone, they needed help. But who else was there that could help?

Jack finally broke his silence. "I hope that's the worst of it...it is, right?" Jack asked, worried.

"The good thing is, that Smith has not yet created another clone of himself, so at least you don't have to worry over that. But I suggest that you and your friends look into this matter as soon as you can."

"I will. I make a call to Zen, and tell him to call Seth and Trish. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this." With that said, he said good bye to the oracle as he went outside to contact Zen.

* * *

"Operator." 

"Zen, did you catch what the oracle said?"

"Yes I did. Trish and Seth are on their way as well. They should be here soon."

At that moment, Trish and Seth arrived at the warehouse, and made there way down to the bottom level where Zen was waiting for them.

"Good, you're here. You wont believe what's going on."

* * *

**I really hope that you guys enjoy that one, since it took me forever to write. I know that it focuses on my ACC's, and not Code Lyoko, but its makes the story itself a lot more clear. I plan to have the two groups meet in about chapter 5 or so. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the L-Team. If you guys don't like it, please don't flame too bad, it really took me a while to write this, and I want to pass out on my bed now. So read, review, and most important, enjoy!** **One more thing. If I made any errors (spelling, grammar, ext.) please E-Mail me, or just stick it in the review (but I would rather you e-mail me...It would just help more). Thank you all...you are so wonderful.**


	4. Author's Note

**This chapter is not a real chapter, but more or less, a side note to take the time to explain a few things to all of you readers. I would first like to take the time to go over the reviews that you have sent me. But before I do, I would just like to add that I loved all of them. Im so glad that you guys are so open with your feelings about this story, and don't hold back when you post your opinions. I liked the constructive criticism that I received as well, It helps me do better the next time around. (Im glad that so far, I have no spelling, and grammar errors...that anyone has spotted) I probably will in here, since Im not going to go back and edit it...no real point (I hope its not too bad). Ok, now to go over the reviews.

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**This review was sent by SamBlob (who I now know, I should send my chapters to first before I post them):**

_First, let me state that I did not pre-read this, so I don't know if I still have that job. Actually, that job was offered after I nitpicked the first two chapters, so I'm not sure if I ever had it... _

Apparently, one direct result of my not being sent this for pre-reading is that two of the new characters are described in the present tense and the other two are described in the past. Normally, I would take it as a hint that the two characters described in the past tense are dead (although character descriptions are generally supposed to be in the past tense) and the two described in the present tense are still living, but in this case I think it's just an oversight.

The four new characters seem a bit too much like Team Lyoko to me, even down to a repeat of the UxY situation.

Stating the timeline as an author's note instead of letting us figure it out from the text shows a notable lack of confidence which will be outgrown, I'm sure. Given the later conversation between Jack and the Oracle, I'm sure most readers would have figured it out.

This story is not really to my taste, but it's O.K. so far, I guess...

**First I would like to say that I too had noticed the "tense" thing, I knew that someone would probably catch that, I guess I wasn't really sure which one I should use, so that one I defiantly go back and fix.**

**Second...I KNEW someone was going to notice the similarities of my ACC's and the L-Team, looks like I'd better clear things up. What I actually did was put parts of myself into each of the characters (I had the most fun creating Zen's character). Im not trying to simply put the Code Lyoko character personalities into my ACC's, I guess it just kind of happened that way, I hope you guys can forgive me about that.**

**About the whole Seth and Trish compared to Yumi and Ulrich. I also knew that someone was going to point that out as well. What I would like to say about that is, note, Seth never showed any signs of returning the felling. In Code Lyoko, Ulrich and Yumi have the same feelings for each other, but in this situation, Seth does not have the same feeling for Trish (Im not sure if I want him to over time, or not). Thus, I will not focus on putting those type of moments into my story. Don't worry SamBlob, next time Ill let you pre-read it. Im sure that it will help me a great deal.

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**This next review is by Werwek**, **and I must say, I enjoyed his quite a bit.**

_Hey dude, it's me Hiroshi...look, I know I've been harsh and whatnot...but it's about time I told ya about what I consider to be the good parts of you fic: _

a) Nice merger: It's not as rough as I tougth it would be (meger refering to the matrix/lyoko thing)  
b) Great cast: good ACC's dude, hope you use 'em well, just a thing, the Trish/Seth love is...I dunno...too cliche...just my toughts though  
c) Enjoyable plot: yea, I know...I've said that the matrix sucks about what..fifteen times now?...still, the plot's refreshing, and it's a way better crossove than the usual one's you'ld find

Now...on to the bad parts...:

a)Too many explanations: I'm sorry to say this but, this really pissed the frick outta me (I truly stopped reading, momentarily, because of this) Dude, the people that read this stuff ain't your avarage Joes...they don't need you to explain every...little...detail...just show it a couple of people and you'll know what I mean.

b) Repetitive language: This is a common plague in almost every ff out there. There's no need to use a character's name more rhan once per sentence (follow up with "He" or "She")

c) Smith: Ok, I know you like this villian a lot...and I also enjoy him...not a lot though...but in chap. 2, he says something about "wanting to destroy earth" which is in part out of character (he wants to anhialate the human race, thus being completly alone)

Sorry if it seems like I'm attacking you dude (which I'm sure it looks like) but take notice that I'm up on caffeine at the moment and that my commentaries, although rough and annoying, do hold some truth...

Still, as much as I dislike the actual crossover, this story is going good dawg, don't stop!

**This review is one of the most helpful so far among the chapter 3 reviews that I currently have. So thank you Werwek. Now to discuss it.**

**You said that I put in too many explanations, I could see where you are coming from with that opinion. I guess I kinda picked that up from reading 1984, by George Orwell (a very good book by the way). In his novel, he took the time to explain every nook and cranny, I guess I developed that sort of habit from him (now if only I could do that in my school essays, lol). Im sorry if I did go a little overboard with that, I guess I just didn't want to leave the reader hanging with any questions of what was going on. So Ill try not to go as far next time (thank you for pointing that out). **

**About the repetitive language thing, it is quite common isn't it? I guess its just one of those things that's just going to keep sneaking its way in there. Personally, when I read fanfics, I tend not to notice that kind of thing, so when I write it, I guess the same applies to that as well.**

**And finally, the whole Smith thing. I know that Smith isn't keen on "destroying the earth", I guess I kinda worded it the wrong way (I actually now surprised that G-Force 4 did not pick up on this, considering that he is a huge Matrix fan, and has a good eye in pointing out little nit picks in stories...just like SamBlob does). What I actually meant by him wanting to destroy the world, was basically what you said. I didn't mean physically destroy it like blow it up or anything. Sorry about the confusion there as well.**

**Don't be sorry for attacking me, because you aren't. Your actually doing more good by pointing out my faults, we always learn from out mistakes, not our accomplishments (other than it worked, and you know what to do next time, given the exact same situation).

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**The next review is sent by Trillinka (for , who I am also very happy to have had reviewed my story (now I know that she has not yet forgotten about me). Anyway:**

_Sorry I haven't been reviewing! My computer has been going absolutely crazy. So far, this is a pretty good fic. I saw The Matrix, but not The Matrix Reloaded, but I hope that won't be a problem. _

I like how you're establishing Agent Smith as a strong character, but I think you could try to do a little more with description. I don't mean character description, but rather scene descriptions. I'm a highly visual person and that helps me understand the story better.

Otherwise, this was great and I can't wait to get to the next chapter!

**First Id like to say that you don't really have to see The Matrix Reloaded to understand my story, but I suggest to you that you do, (and see The Matrix Revolutions as well...both are very good). **

**Thank you for stating that this is a good fic (by your opinion standards), that really does mean a lot to me. Thanks for also stating that I did a good job with Agent Smith, I tried to do a good job with him, at least now I know I did.**

**About the scene descriptions, Ill do my best to give you a clearer picture of what's going on. You are right, I was a little vague on describing the setting, Ill try better in chapter 5.

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**And finally, the last review I have for this chapter so far, is also from Trillinka.**

_Another good chapter to establish characters. The only problem I had with it is how you introduced your ACCs. That format bores me a little. There is the author's idea of show, not tell that might have done them better justice. _

Otherwise, I liked how you've drawn the plot a bit more forward and have brought the kids and Agent Smith into the same time frame now. It feels like everyone is caught up. I can't wait to read more of this story!

**I kinda figured that someone would be a little bored with the introduction thing, but I felt as though it was the best way I could describe who/how they are. Im sure that many people don't like to read those (some times, I don't as well, but it helps me out). **

**Thank you for saying that I have a good plot, I hope that I can keep on track with it, and not lose focus as a precede onto my later chapters. Thanks again for your review.

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**I would like to take the time to thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews, and not being afraid in to post your true thoughts and opinions when you do so. I do not expect any real reviews from this chapter, maybe just to let me know that you have read it, and acknowledge what Im saying. But I would also like to add that the two reasons I did not wait until I go the _realI _chapter done, is (1) because I wanted to address this as soon as possible. And (2) because, this is very long (four pages) and I didn't want to take up most of the room in my next chapter just to say this. Thank you all for taking the time to read this over, I promise to get started on chapter 5 either later today, or sometime tomorrow. Thanks again, to all my wonderful readers for being so great, and supporting me in writing this. **


	5. What to do?

**Im sorry that this has taken so long to put up, but taking on two stories is no easy feet to accomplish. And it appears that this one is going to take longer due to the length of the chapters that it has. On a different note, Id like to thank all of my wonderful reviewers, not just for this story, but for my other one as well. Im glad that you guys are giving me so much support, it really helps me keep going with it. **

**This chapter takes picks right up at the end of chapter one, and carries on from there. After this chapter, everyone will be caught up. So I hope you enjoy it, but it may not be as long as my previous chapters. But I do always try to keep it above a thousand words per entry, that way I get all the details in...thanks again...Ill shut up now.**

**Disclaimer:** **Please...do I look like I own Code Lyoko...or The Matrix.**

**Claimer: But yet, I do own my ACC's (which aren't in this chapter).

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**Chapter 5: What To Do?**

**The Matrix Has You**

Jeremy looked up at these words with shock and dismay across his face. He was also worried about what had happened to Aelita, but soon snapped out if his trance and quickly reached for his cell phone. He dialed up Ulrich's number first. It rang a few time until he finally picked up.

* * *

Ulrich was spending some quality time with Yumi in the park talking about random things such as school, and what ever else came across their minds, and he also took the time to admire her beautiful features, before he was interrupted by Jeremy's sudden call. 

"Hey Jeremy, what's up?" Ulrich replied to his friend's call, also hoping that it wouldn't be the usual emergency.

"Ulrich!" Jeremy quickly replied. "Something's happened to Aelita, get a hold of Yumi and Odd right away!"

'Why does it _always_ have to be bad news?' Thought Ulrich. "Yumi's with me. We'll go get Odd, and be on our way." He hung up and quickly did as he was instructed.

* * *

Odd was quite the predictable one. Whenever he wasn't off stuffing his face with junk food, he was in his room listening to loud music and playing with Kiwi. The music was so loud, that he almost didn't hear his cell phone go off. He heard a faint ring, and knew by heart that it wasn't part of the song. He turned down his stereo, and the ring was much clearer. He quickly made his way to the desk where his mobile lay, and answered it without hesitation. 

"What's up Ulrich!" Came the usual cheerful, and energetic reply from the spiky haired individual.

"Jeremy just called, and we have to meet him at the factory pronto." Ulrich replied in a concerned tone.

"Alright, be on my way."

Odd quickly put on his shoes, and was out the door in a flash. He ran to the manhole in the park. Once there, he looked around to make sure that no one saw him, and then soon descended downwards into the sewer. He grabbed his skate board and made his way to the other end of the tunnel. Once there, he made his way up the latter, and dashed across the bridge. He grabbed one of the hanging ropes, slid down to the elevator, and prepared to join up with the rest of the group.

* * *

"Sorry I took so long, traffic was horrible." Odd joked about in the usual way. 

"Took you long enough, Jeremy wasn't going to tell us what is wrong until you got here." Ulrich complained.

"Well now that Im here...humor me."

"I don't think that you will find this humorous at all Odd." Jeremy began in a low, worried tone.

"I was talking to Aelita as I usually do, and just then, the power shuts down, and she disappears. And a few moments later, a message appeared on my screen."

"What did it say." Ulrich piped up.

"Have a look for yourself." Jeremy pointed to the screen.

The message that XANA left had never went away, as the group overlooked the message, they were shocked and each (except for Jeremy) had a blank stare on there face once they were done reading it. They stood there in silence, wondering what they should do.

"You see, she's gone. And we have to find out exactly where she is." Jeremy broke the silence.

"Well the message said something about this Matrix place, we should try to go there." Odd suggested.

"It's a good idea, but how would we do it, we don't even have a clue on how to access it."

"Wait." Yumi suddenly jumped in. "Remember that time that XANA trapped us in that alternate reality?"

"Yes, go on."

"Well, couldn't you track where the message came from, and use that to lead you to The Matrix?"

I don't know Yumi, this seems a bit harder than last time. Before I had a signal to go off of, now I don't even have that."

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

Jeremy thought for a moment. He wasn't about to give up his search for Aelita before it began. He wasn't sure exactly what to do, but he kept thinking how Yumi's idea just might work.

"Yumi, I thought it over. Looks like we are going with your plan, but it wont be easy, and we may even have to try a few times before we get a successful run."

"What happens if it's unsuccessful?" Ulrich asked, getting a little worried.

"Don't worry Ulrich, if the run is unsuccessful, then the super calculator will simply not allow you to be virtualized there. And I doubt that there are any other places like Lyoko or The Matrix, so the answer will be obvious once you get there. And who knows, maybe there is someone else there you can consult with on the matter to make sure."

"I hope you are right Jeremy." Ulrich stated, still worried.

"Alright then. No time to lose." Odd said eagerly. "We'll be down in the scanner room awaiting your orders, captain." He chuckled.

'I swear, the only time Odd is ever serious is when he's eating' Jeremy thought to himself.

* * *

Yumi kept thinking of what this new world would be like. She also wondered what if Jeremy's predictions were false, and if his calculations were incorrect, and that the scanners would send them into an interdimentional void. 

"You ok there Yumi?" Came Ulrich's soothing voice.

"Yeah, just a little nervous is all." She said, trying not to blush.

"Just think of the first time we went to Lyoko. Sure we were scared at first, but now we go there on a regular basis."

"You have a good point Ulrich, thank you."

"Your welcome, just trying to help."

They soon arrived to the scanner level, where they would take a plunge into another world that they have never seen before. Each of them felt like they had butterflies in their stomach, even Jeremy, because he knew that he had to nail each calculation right on the dot.

"Ok, everything's ready. But the question is, are you guys." Echoed Jeremy's voice throughout the room.

"You bet Jeremy, lets do this." Odd piped up with his never failing confidence.

"Ok then."

The three hero's stepped into the scanners, waiting for the moment of departure to draw nearer. As seconds pasted, their heart raced, and adrenaline rushed all through out their bodies.

"Transfer Ulrich...Transfer Odd...Transfer Yumi."

Their heart raced even more.

"Scanner Ulrich...Scanner Odd...Scanner Yumi."

Jeremy thought for a second. He couldn't say virtualization, because they weren't being sent to Lyoko, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

'Aw the heck with it.' He thought. "Virtualization!"

* * *

It felt different this time. Not like the usual trip to Lyoko. No, this felt more violent, like there bodies were being stretched out until their limbs tore off. They all screamed in pain. Then suddenly it all stopped. The pain had gone as soon as it came. 

They opened their eyes to see them selves in another world. The first thing they noticed, was that they all had sunglasses and trench coats that went down to their ankles. Their coats all looked similar, but the style of their sunglasses was slightly different from one another. They admired their new look for a moment, but soon got their minds back on task. They were surrounded by tall buildings, and they stood on the sidewalk as cars and people passed them by. All of this left the group in Awe.

"Is this it? Is this The Matrix?" Yumi wondered out loud. "Jeremy, are you there?"

Jeremy heard a very faint and scattered voice coming through the ear piece of his head set.

"Yumi, is that you? Hold on, let me adjust the frequency settings, hopefully Ill be able to hear and speak with you."

Jeremy did just that, though it took a couple of times to get it just right.

"Can you hear me now...good."

"Loud and clear General, awaiting orders." Odd couldn't seem to help himself today with his humorous behavior.

"Alright guys, sounds like you made it all right, but Im having a few problems with my screen. All that I keep seeing are these random green patterns running down my screen, I think its some kind of code that has been encrypted to no end, Ill see if I can do anything about it. The Matrix must be so big that even the Lyoko supercomputer cant decode it."

"So what do you want us to do while you do that?" Ulrich asked eager to get started with finding Aelita.

"Ummm, Look around and see what you can find, but stay close, and be on the look out for anything. Remember, XANA is there too, so just keep that in mind."

XANA was there, but little did they realize that he wasn't the only threat to them, or that they weren't the only hero's there as well. Their new Journey had only just begun to unfold, and they would soon realize that this was bigger than any Lyoko mission that they ever faced. They all started to have a look around. And 10 blocks away, little did they know, a fight was about to take place. The battle had begun for them, but they had yet to find that out.

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**I see that you're hanging off of a cliff right now. I would help, but I have ran out of rope, so Ill just have to leave you there for now. I hope that you enjoyed it, and I also hope that its not too sloppy. If it is, please tell me, and I will revise it, and Ill be sure to make sure I do a better job with the next one. Thanks again to all my reviewers, you are so wonderful, and I hope that the "Author's Note" chapter cleared some things up for you. Im not sure when Ill have another one up, especially since Ill be taking more time to clearly write everything. I feel as though someone is just gonna say "It was good except for", and Im sure some one will (I also hope they do if they find something wrong, or that they feel as though is missing. This goes double for you G-Force, since you have helped me out the most). I just feel as though Im rushing, but now that its done, I don't want to revise it right away. Aya, thinking about this can give you a headache. Well, I do hope you enjoy it...until next time, see ya. **


	6. Balance of Power

**I would just like to take the time (again) to thank all of my readers, though right now I seem to not be getting many (but that happens to all authors). But none the less, I thank you all who have read. Hmmm, maybe I _do_ have readers, but just not all of them leave reviews, ah well, Im not going to ponder over it. I do how ever have another announcement to make. I am currently also taking the time to write another story, but it's a one shot (a very long one though), actually I haven't really decided if I want to have chapters or not, Ill decide later on. Ok, I also have one more thing to say before I let you have what you came for. I have noticed that most of you do like this story, but some think it leaves out a little explanation, don't worry, I have realized why this is, its because I rush too quickly to get things done. So in exchange for waiting a tad bit longer, I will make sure that nothing leaves you wondering "what the..." (As best as I can). Well, enough ranting...lets go.**

**Disclaimer: I do own Code Lyoko...yeah right, if I did, it would have sucked most likely. And I don't own The Matrix either...that would have sucked if I did too.**

**Claimer: Alas, I do own my ACC's (so at least I can say I have something)** **and you cant use them (name wise I don't care...just the character itself I mind).

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**Chapter 6: Balance of power**

**(Where we last left off from chp 3)**

"Operator."

"Zen, did you catch what the oracle said?"

"Yes I did. Trish and Seth are on their way as well. They should be here soon."

At that moment, Trish and Seth arrived at the warehouse, and made there way down to the bottom level where Zen was waiting for them.

"Good, you're here. You wont believe what's going on."

Seth and Trish's expression went from eager to worried in a split second.

"Why what happened?" Seth spoke up.

"I afraid things have taken a turn for the worse." Zen began. "An outside program who is called XANA has some how hacked into The Matrix."

"That cant be, it's nearly impossible to hack The Matrix's system, how could a mere program be able to do it!"

"I don't know, but after he got there, he and Smith arranged a meeting, and even formed an alliance with him, at least this is what the Oracle says. What gets me the most is, that after a period of time, I saw that Smiths power has risen substantially, maybe even enough to start his reign of terror on our world."

"Then what are we waiting for, we got to get in there and stop him!" Trish shouted.

"Alright then, you two head over to the uplinks, and Ill get you jacked in. Then we'll go from there."

Trish and Seth made their way over to uplinks, and prepared for another trip to The Matrix, but this time, they had no idea what they were up against. Because now that Smith and XANA are one, it would be a whole new battle for them.

Zen typed up the information to where he was sending them and then hit the enter key which initiated the sequence to send Seth and Trish to The Matrix.

They opened their eyes to find that they were in the middle of a dark, and abandon road. Most of the houses were run down, and the neighborhood looked pretty rough. Seth had on a long black leather trench coat and also wore a pair of sunglasses to go with it. Trish on the other hand, had more of a latex type of material trench coat, also with sunglasses. Seth was armed with two .45 Caliber pistols, while Trish was armed with a 12 gauge shot gun. They may have been armed well, but when facing smith, it wasn't nearly enough.

They took the time to recognize their surroundings, and soon knew exactly where they were. They didn't even have to look at the street signs, they could already tell that they were in the area of where the oracle lived. Once they realized this, they awaited orders from Zen.

Seth took out his cell phone to contact Zen to inform him that the transfer was indeed successful, and to find out what they needed to do next. He set the phone to "speaker phone" so that they all could hear it.

"Operator." Came Zen's voice from his end.

"Transfer was a success, awaiting orders." Seth replied in a dark tone.

"Good, you know where you are right?"

"Yes."

"Alright, Jack should be there soon, wait until he arrives, and then we will proceed."

"Understood."

A few moments later, Jack arrived to greet his friends. Once there, Zen quickly told them what they were to do.

"Alright guys, you know the situation."

They nodded their heads.

"Then it's time we get to work. Smith is stronger than ever, so I want you all to take extra precaution, don't do anything too risky, do you hear me, especially you Jack."

"Hey, I told you I was fine, that bullet didn't even come close to me. Besides, that was a long time ago, I think I matured a little now."

Seth and Trish snickered to themselves after they heard this, knowing full well the day that Jack matures, is the day that Smith wins.

"Hey, what's so funny, Im being serious here."

"We have no time for this." Zen shouted to them. "There is more at risk now, so get going."

"Sir yes sir." Jack replied

"One more thing. I sure wish that I was there with you guys, I sure could use a little break from this. I know that one day Ill be able to do that, but until then, good luck."

"Thanks Zen." Trish replied. "Ok, so where was Smith last."

"He was last seen at the intersection of Lake and North, he shouldn't be to far from there. But be careful, and watch out for this XANA, we don't know what he's capable of."

"Will do."

And with that, the connection was ended. The three of them started toward the intersection of where Zen had specified and prepared themselves for battle.

* * *

"Smith." XANA spoke. 

"Yes."

"They're here."

"Who would that be."

"The group I told you about."

"Do you think they are searching for you?"

"No, they are searching for the captive I took with me."

"I see, what do you think we should do?"

"Eliminate them. But one thing puzzles me. How were they able to get here, there is no way Jeremy was able to hack into The Matrix, even I had trouble doing it."

"You must have left a digital "trail", so to speak, for him to follow, and who is this Jeremy."

"He is the one responsible for me being unable to complete my plans, him and the rest of his little friends. I want them dead more than anything else. The captive I took with me, is the actual one who stops me, but she can not protect herself, so she has this bunch of kids do that for her. My monsters can't stop them, and just as I am about to achieve victory, I am stopped by this menace that is placed in my way."

"Did you say monsters?"

"Yes, in my world, I have the power to produce monsters, they are armed with lasers, and it's obvious of their job."

"Right. Hmmm, this gives me an idea."

"What would that be?"

"Suppose you could use your power here. We could use that to out advantage. With my powers and yours, there is no way for even both of our enemies to stop us."

"I never even thought of that, lets give it a try, looks like we have to switch control in order to do this."

"Right."

Smith and XANA focused on the exchange of control. It was easier and quicker than last time, so fast that it was almost instant. Once the change was complete, what was once Smith, now was in the appearance of XANA. After the switch, XANA focused on creating a monster. He did it just like he would in Lyoko, but being in The Matrix, it could require a bit more focus. After concentrating for a few moments, a light appeared in front of them. It started to expand and take a form as well. Soon, after a few moments, it had become a mega-tank.

"This is your monster, a ball?" Smith asked a little puzzled by the sight.

"Don't be quick to judge, this is only one of my creations, but it is the most powerful. Watch and see."

The mega-tank turned its body, and aimed in the direction of an old blue house. The tank opened up, revealing the rest of it that was concealed inside of it. It gathered energy, and fired a huge beam right at one of the near by buildings. Upon impact, the laser caused an explosion, and causing heavy damage to the structure.

"You were saying." XANA spoke up.

* * *

The Lyoko team was having no luck themselves, as they continued on to find Aelita and get her back before XANA could act upon them again. But there was so much that they did not know, such as where Aelita was, or even where _they_ really were. Sure they knew that they were inside The Matrix, but where in The Matrix were they? And how big is The Matrix? Was it so big that even Lyoko mainframe computer could not decode all of the information? So many questions for our heros, but none of them may ever be answered. 

"Jeremy, this is useless. Just searching here could take years, and who knows what XANA could be up to." Odd complained. He sat down on a near by bench to take a rest, knowing that his continuous efforts were not going to be payed off.

Ulrich and Yumi also took this opportunity to take a break as well.

"We've been searching for hours Jeremy, and we haven't found anything even remotely helpful. We need a new plan." Yumi also put in.

"Im sorry guys, I just don't know what I can tell you. This is different form Lyoko, so the game plan has changed. For now, this is the only real option, unless you want to sit there and do nothing. Try going further into the city, maybe someone else is here as well, and could possibly help."

"You have a good point, and I guess going into the city could help a bit more, especially if we found someone who could help. Lets just hope that good luck is with us."

At that moment, they all heard a big explosion coming from way up ahead. Along with the explosion, an averaged sized building also came crashing down. They all stood there with shock on their face.

"Well, I think we know now where XANA is." Odd said, breaking the silence.

"Lets go check it out." Ulrich added as they all ran off to see what might be the cause of this event.

* * *

"What the hell was that!" Seth shouted after they heard the explosion. 

"That doesn't look like Smith's doing to me." Trish piped in.

"Well enough wasting time, lets go stop who ever, or what ever it is." Said Jack as he added the last of the commentary.

The three of them headed off to find out what was the cause of the dilemma, but little did they realize that the would be in for a couple of surprises.

* * *

Ulrich's group arrived first to the scene and by this time, most of the pedestrians had left the area, and once again the group was left with shock on their faces, as they stood there staring at a man wearing black who was standing next to a mega-tank, and had a particularly evil smile on his face. 

"Is that..." Ulrich started

"It couldn't be..." Yumi added.

"It is..." Odd finished up.

"XANA!" They all said together.

"So." XANA spoke up. "You were able to get here after all. It's a shame really, I was looking forward to destroying you in my world, but now I suppose I could settle for this. Especially after all the misery you caused me. But I wont be the only one causing your demise."

The group stood there in confusion that soon turned to horror as XANA changed form. Smith had taken back control of his body and XANA returned to the corridors of Smiths mind, where he waited peacefully for his next opportunity to strike.

"So, these are the ones I've heard so much about." Smith began, with an evil smile forming on his face. "These are the ones that keep getting in the way, who foil your plans, who stop you where you stand. I must say that I am a bit disappointed, I was hoping for them to be a bit stronger, but there still is strength in numbers I suppose."

"Who are you?" Ulrich asked in a dark tone.

"I am Smith. Soon to be the one to control this world and the one you live in, along with my new accomplice of course."

"So you and XANA are in this together?"

"Yes, and Im afraid it's going to take more than you three to stop us."

* * *

At that moment Seth's group also arrived to the scene, only to find that their greatest enemy was there. And right beside him stood a giant ball-like structure. They also noticed three other individuals about their age there as well. 

"Who are they...what is that...did Smith do this?" The group whispered amongst themselves.

"Well, it looks like this might be an interesting fight after all. What do think XANA, six on two doesn't sound too bad, what do you think?"

Smith and XANA switched control yet again.

"I don't know, we do have the mega-tank, but maybe we should even it out a bit."

XANA focused his mind, and after a few moments four blocks appeared right before their eyes. The battle was about to begin, but could both groups trust one another. Either, way, they were about to find out.

* * *

**Boy, that was a doozy of chapter. Im sorry to have kept you all waiting, but it better to get it done right, than to just get it done. The next one shouldn't be as long of a wait, now that Im getting into more of a flow with my writing. I hope you all enjoy what you have waited so long to see. Well, I got nothing more to say, so drop a review off when your done, thanks in advance. If I made any errors, feel free to point them out.**


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